I’m going to start this by saying Mohamed Salah could very easily stay at Liverpool beyond this season.
In fact, he is probably odds-on to.
This is simply a gut feeling with a few, in my opinion, fair reasons for this outlook thrown in.
Liverpool are in the healthiest position they have been in for many years, with stunning football being played, Jurgen Klopp as manager, things running smoothly off the pitch and European Cup number six in the trophy cabinet.
On the face of it, why would any player want to leave?
Salah is the one individual whose future is nagging away at me, though, much as it did Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho.
Virgil van Dijk is no doubt wanted by every club in the world, but I can see a scenario where he signs a new deal eventually.
The same applies to fellow key men such as Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Fabinho. All four are primed to spend the best years of their career at Liverpool.
Then there’s Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, who despite potentially being linked with huge moves to European powerhouses in the near future, are likely to remain as Reds players. They seem settled.
There’s just something about Salah, however.
He feels like the current Liverpool player who would most want a fresh challenge, especially in his prime.
The Egyptian is a global superstar, and although more like Lionel Messi in style, he possesses the character of Cristiano Ronaldo.
A goalscoring obsessive who frets over statistics and adoration, he has an ego that would want to test itself at Barcelona or Real Madrid.
This is nothing against him as a person – he’s fantastic – but unlike most of his teammates, I don’t believe he sees Liverpool as his final destination.
By the time next summer rolls around, Salah will turn 28 years of age. An earth-shattering bid for him is to be expected – perhaps one that will break the current transfer record set by Neymar (£198 million).
If that happened, Liverpool themselves would have to weigh up things a little, considering just how much money it would be, and Salah’s age at the time.
A figure like that would never arrive again, and realistically, could the Reds be better off bringing in a couple of world superstars who are five years younger?
This could all be perceived as me saying I want Salah to go, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
He is a wonderful footballer who I still believe is somehow a little underrated, and I want him to be at Liverpool for many years to come.
Realistically, though, I believe his head will be turned by a likely bid from one of the two Spanish powerhouses, at which point he will have spent three seasons at Anfield. If he wants to go, don’t keep him.
Salah isn’t stupid and will know that if he desires a move abroad, next summer could arguably be his last chance while at the peak of his powers.
He will want a lengthy spell with Barca or Madrid, adding to his legend and cementing his place as one of the best footballers of his generation. That won’t happen if he commits to Liverpool for a few extra years.
Of course, as mentioned at the start, this could prove to be utter nonsense eventually, with Salah signing a new deal at the end of the season.
You can all rub this article in my face if that happens and tell me that I ‘don’t deserve a player like him’.
If one individual from this truly great Liverpool side is to leave soon, though, I have no doubt that it will be Salah.
It’s going to be the transfer soap opera of next summer, I fear.
